Chimp lawsuit dismissed

Earlier this weak a judge dismissed a linkurl:lawsuit;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52935/ filed by primate researcher Sally Boysen against Ohio State University (OSU). Boysen claims the University shut down the Chimpanzee Cognition Center at OSU and moved the animals to a sub-standard facility without her approval. Boysen also holds the university responsible for the death of two animals that died after their relocation. OSU says the Center was closed and the animals moved because B

Mar 23, 2007

Kerry Grens

Earlier this weak a judge dismissed a linkurl:lawsuit;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52935/ filed by primate researcher Sally Boysen against Ohio State University (OSU). Boysen claims the University shut down the Chimpanzee Cognition Center at OSU and moved the animals to a sub-standard facility without her approval. Boysen also holds the university responsible for the death of two animals that died after their relocation. OSU says the Center was closed and the animals moved because Boysen failed to obtain funding for her research program after the university paid the bills for several years. On the phone today Boysen said she is 'extremely, extremely disappointed' by Judge Algenon Marbley's decision. Boysen wouldn't reveal her next move, except to say she is discussing a possible appeal with her attorney and that abandoning the issue is not an option for her. Boysen said she 'fully intend[s] to continue research' on the animals, although their current sanctuary, Chimp Haven in Shreveport, Louisiana, is not set up for her to conduct experiments. Earle Holland, a spokesperson for OSU, wrote in an Email: 'We're pleased that the federal court agreed with our motion to dismiss this case and denied the merits of Professor Boysen's arguments. We stand by our decisions we made at the time to retire the animals as we did.' Courtesy of Sandy Spater, Boysen's attorney, you can read Judge Marbley's decision linkurl:here;http://images.the-scientist.com/pdfs/blogs/boysenopinion.pdf